WEBVTT - Why doesn't the space shuttle burn up upon re-entry?

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<v Speaker 1>today at m o z y dot com. Welcome to

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff from how Stuff works dot com where smart happens. Hi,

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<v Speaker 1>Am marciall Brain with today's question. Meteors burn up when

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<v Speaker 1>they hit the atmosphere. Why doesn't the space shuttle burn up?

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<v Speaker 1>When a small meteor enters the Earth's atmosphere, it goes

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<v Speaker 1>from traveling through a vacuum to traveling through air. Traveling

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<v Speaker 1>through a vacuum is effortless, it takes no energy at all,

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<v Speaker 1>but traveling through air is a completely different story. A

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<v Speaker 1>meteor moving through the vacuum space typically travels at speeds

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<v Speaker 1>reaching tens of thousands of miles per hour. When the

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<v Speaker 1>meteor hits our atmosphere, the air in front of it

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<v Speaker 1>compressed is incredibly quickly. When a gas is compressed, its

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<v Speaker 1>temperature rises. This causes the meteor to heat up so

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<v Speaker 1>much that it glows. The air burns the meteor until

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<v Speaker 1>there is nothing left. Re Entry temperatures can reach as

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<v Speaker 1>high as three thousand degrees fahrenheit. Obviously, it would not

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<v Speaker 1>be good for a spacecraft to burn up when it

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<v Speaker 1>re enters the atmosphere. Two technologies are used to allow

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<v Speaker 1>spacecraft to re enter. One is called a blade of

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<v Speaker 1>technology and the other is called insulating tile technology. In

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<v Speaker 1>a blade of technology, the surface of the heat shield

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<v Speaker 1>melts and vaporizes. In the process, the vapor carries away

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<v Speaker 1>a heat. This is the technology that protected the Apollo spacecraft.

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<v Speaker 1>The space shuttles are protected by special silica tiles. Silica

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<v Speaker 1>or s I O two is an incredible insulator. It's

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<v Speaker 1>possible to hold a space shuttle tile by the edge

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<v Speaker 1>and then heat up the center of the tile with

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<v Speaker 1>a blowtorch. The tile insulates so well that no heat

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<v Speaker 1>makes it to the outer edges. These tiles insulate so

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<v Speaker 1>well on the space shuttle that they keep the heat

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<v Speaker 1>of reentry from ever reaching the body of the spacecraft.

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<v Speaker 1>For more on this and thousands of other topics. Because

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